Long-Term Chemical Alteration of 238 Pu-Doped Borosilicate Glass in a Simulated Geological Environment with Bentonite Buffer

Bella Zubekhina (), Boris Burakov, Andrei Shiryaev, Xiaodong Liu and Yury Petrov
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Bella Zubekhina: Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
Boris Burakov: The Ioffe Institute, 26 Politekhnicheskaya St., St. Petersburg 194021, Russia
Andrei Shiryaev: Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Pr., 31 korp. 4, Moscow 119071, Russia
Xiaodong Liu: State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, 418 Guanglan Ave, Nanchang 330013, China
Yury Petrov: Khlopin Radium Institute, 28 2-nd Murinskiy Ave., St. Petersburg 194021, Russia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: Chemical degradation of borosilicate glass doped with 238 Pu was modelled in conditions of a failed underground radwaste repository in granite host rock with bentonite buffer material after penetration of aqueous solutions at temperature of 90 °C. The total duration of the experiment exceeded two years. It is shown that wet bentonite preserved its barrier function and prevents migration of plutonium to the solution. The total amount of plutonium adsorbed on bentonite clay during the experiment did not exceed 0.02% of the initial amount of plutonium in the glass sample. Estimated accumulated dose of self-irradiation of the glass sample after the experiment varies from 3.16 × 10 15 to 3.39 × 10 15 α-decays per gram, which is equivalent to more than 1000 years storage of 239 Pu doped sample with the same Pu content. Beishan granite remained intact, with no evidence of Pu penetration into the granite matrix along mineral grain boundaries.

Keywords: plutonium; bentonite; leaching; alteration; granite; waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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